Drawing Inspiration: A Q&A with artist, John Rocco

Calling all Percy Jackson fans and lovers of beautiful book illustration alike! The Wittliff Collections is proud to celebrate artist/illustrator, John Rocco, in a new exhibit, Illustrating the Odyssey: Book Art for Rick Riordan’s Mythic Worlds. On display are 17 original signed and numbered prints by Rocco that were published as cover art and illustrations for books by Rick Riordan.

 

It is no secret that the worlds built by Rick Riordan have enchanted and empowered young readers across the globe; and the accompanying artwork by John Rocco helps draw them in further. Rocco’s stunning illustrations have graced the pages and covers of many Rick Riordan’s book series including Percy Jackson and The Olympians, The Kane Chronicles, and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. In fact, Rocco’s first book jacket illustration was for The Lightning Thief, the iconic kickoff to the Percy Jackson  series. 

 

Through a combination of traditional pencil drawing and digital painting, Rocco brings to life Riordan’s worlds where dreamlike adventures – complete with a cadre of gods, monsters, and demons – seemingly leap from his mind’s eye onto the page. Rocco’s unique visual storytelling conveys the characters and action through a lavish use of color and tone. Light and dark glow and smolder as demigod, Percy Jackson, battles characters from Greek mythology, magician siblings Carter and Sadie Kane contend with Egyptian gods and goddesses, and Magnus Chase navigates the Norse afterlife, Valhalla.

 

Recently, Archives Specialist, Sherri Turner-Herrmann, had the pleasure of chatting with John Rocco about his career path, creative process and inspiration, and how he came to collaborate with Rick Riordan.

 

 

Q: Is it true that you didn’t become serious about drawing until you were 19? If so, what changed your mind?

 After high school I wanted to continue working as a commercial shell fisherman. I had been working summers and most weekends on clamming boats since I was eleven years old, and having my own boat seemed like the natural transition. My first winter out on the water was rough, and when my boat sank, I rushed off to college to study oceanographic engineering.  It was then that I was sharing a house with Jay Primiano— the fishing boat captain I worked for as a kid—and his illustrator friend, Fred Lynch. Watching Fred create pictures everyday was a revelation. “Wait, you can stay at home and draw all day and this is how you make a living?”   

I immediately started putting pencil to paper with gusto, and with Fred’s guidance I was able to put together a pretty decent portfolio that got me accepted into the Rhode Island School of Design. 

 

Q: Your use of vibrant, almost electric color is reminiscent of Maxfield Parrish. Amongst the artists who were part of the Golden Age of Illustration, who are you most influenced by? 

Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, and Arthur Rackham all had a major influence on not only my early school work, but continues today. The design and color of Parrish, the powerful compositions and lighting of Wyeth and Pyle, and the motion and whimsy of Rackham all went into my toolbox right from the get go.  I still go back and study their work for inspiration.  

 

Q: How did you meet and begin to collaborate with Rick Riordan?

I had illustrated my first picture book, written by Whoopi Goldberg, right after graduating from art school. After that I worked as an art director in entertainment for about 14 years. It was in 2005 when I was trying to break back into the children’s book field that I ran into the editor for that Whoopi book, Rob Weisbach. Rob said he had an interesting project for me. They were looking for someone to create a new illustration for the cover of a book called the Lightning Thief. I had never illustrated a book jacket before and I thought this would be a fabulous challenge. It wasn’t until about the third or fourth book in the series that I actually met Rick. It was all run through the publishing company. But when Rick started working on multiple series, the publisher wanted the art before Rick had even written the book, so he and I would get on the phone and he would basically walk me through the story so I could get a sense of what might work for a cover. Once I had an idea, I would go back to Rick to get details for the particular scene. It was a great process, but also nerve-wracking because I knew that the fans would only have the cover to look at for months before the book was available. There were even websites dedicated to analyzing the cover to try and glean what might take place in the next book, so I had to make sure the details were correct.  In the end I ended up creating 26 covers for five different series Rick wrote, as well as four fully illustrated volumes. All told I probably created about 250 paintings based on the stories from Rick’s imagination. It was a mythical journey!  

 

Just in case you didn’t know, Rocco is also a Caldecott Award recipient and New York Times #1 Bestselling author and illustrator of children’s books in his own right. Hailing from Barrington, Rhode Island, John studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design, and is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City.  

 

John Rocco’s book covers and illustrations are nothing short of dazzling and action packed. Should you have a moment to be transported into the worlds of Rick Riordan, come by The Wittliff Collections’ Laura Walser Reading Room and enjoy the amazing artwork of John Rocco. Illustrating the Odyssey: Book Art for Rick Riordan’s Mythic Worlds will be on display through the Spring semester, 2024.